Rental Property Profit and Loss Statement: One P&L per Property, Then the Portfolio

What is a property-level P&L?

A property-level P&L is the profit and loss statement for one rental. It shows that property’s rent, operating costs and loan interest for a period, kept apart from every other property you own.

It answers one question per property: did this rental make money in this period? A single P&L for the whole LLC cannot answer that once you own 2 doors.

Each property's P&L is one layer of the property-to-portfolio books that the rental property bookkeeping guide sets out.

What goes on a rental property P&L, and what stays off?

Rent, late fees, management fees, repairs, mortgage interest, property tax and insurance go on. Loan principal, escrow deposits, security deposits, improvements and refinance cash stay off, because none of them is income or a cost.

• On: rent and late fees, the property manager’s fee, repairs, mortgage interest, and property tax and insurance in the month they are paid.
• Off: loan principal, which lowers the loan.
• Off: escrow deposits, which are your money held by the lender until it pays the tax and insurance.
• Off: security deposits, which are owed back to the tenant.
• Off: improvements such as a new roof, which go on the property record.
• Off: cash from a refinance, which is borrowed money.

Depreciation belongs on the P&L too, but your CPA sets it once a year, so a monthly P&L leaves it out. Whether a cost is a repair or an improvement is also your CPA's call.

None of this works unless every transaction carries its property. That starts with bookkeeping for multiple properties, which tracks each one separately from the bank feed onward.

What did Property 1 make in 2026?

Property 1 made $6,754.72 from January to October 2026, on $29,075.00 of rent and late fees. Every month except April showed a profit.

Here is Property 1 month by month. Sample Property Management collects the rent and charges 8% of rent and late fees collected. Example Mortgage Co holds the loan and the escrow.

Rent is $2,900 a month. March includes the $75 late fee. Mortgage interest is the interest part of each payment, from the lender's statement.

Why do some months dip on a rental?

Because some costs arrive once or twice a year. In April the lender paid property tax and the yearly insurance from escrow, so Property 1 showed a loss of $3,060.24 that month. A large repair does the same.

• April: $2,970.00 of property tax and the $1,536.00 yearly hazard policy, both paid from escrow. The month showed a loss of $3,060.24.
• August: the water heater was replaced for $1,320.00, paid by the manager out of rent. The month still made $130.83.
• September: the $1,140.00 yearly liability policy, paid on Sep 15, 2026.

A month in the red can be an ordinary month for a healthy rental. That is why a property P&L is read over the year to date, not one month at a time.

Why is the P&L different from the cash the property produced?

Principal, escrow deposits and improvements leave the bank without being costs. Property 1 made $6,754.72 to October, yet $10,936.00 more left the bank for it than came in, mostly for a $14,800 roof.

Here is the step from Property 1's profit to its cash for January to October 2026.

Cash is what the manager sent to checking ($24,604.00) less the 10 mortgage payments ($20,740.00) and the roof ($14,800.00, paid May 14, 2026).

Both numbers are right. They answer different questions. The long version is cash flow vs profit in real estate bookkeeping.

How do property P&Ls roll into a portfolio view?

Each property keeps its own P&L, and the portfolio view sets them side by side with a total column. The total says how the portfolio did. The columns say which property did it.

Here is the portfolio view of Demo Rentals LLC for January to October 2026.

Property 2's rent is October's, prorated for 17 days. On the property records, not the P&L: Property 1's $14,800 roof and Property 2's $46,380 rehab.

Read only the Portfolio column and the year looks flat, at $118.27. Read the property columns and the picture is clear: one rental earning steadily, and one property in its first weeks after a rehab.

How do you treat a property that is still in rehab?

Its rehab costs build the property record, not the P&L. Interest and insurance from the rehab months are kept in their own lines for your CPA. The rental P&L starts when the first tenant moves in.

Property 2 was bought on Jun 2, 2026 and rehabbed from Jun 10, 2026 to Oct 9, 2026. Its $46,380.00 of rehab work went on its property record. Its 4 interest payments to Sample Hard Money Lending ($6,600.00) and its $1,380.00 yearly hazard policy sit in their own lines.

Whether those rehab-period costs join the property's basis or count as costs of 2026 is a tax decision for your CPA. Kept apart, they can go either way without rebuilding the P&L.

Property 2's rental P&L begins on Oct 15, 2026. Its new loan has no escrow, and the first payment is due Dec 1, 2026. So its October holds rent and no rental costs yet.

Which rentals make money?

The ones whose own P&L shows a profit over a full year of renting. In the sample books that is Property 1 so far. Property 2 has 17 days as a rental, which is too soon to judge.

A fair comparison needs the same months on both sides. Property 1 has 10 months of 2026. Property 2 will have its first full month as a rental in November 2026, and its first full year after that.

Reviewing each property's P&L belongs in the monthly routine, beside the reconciliations. It is one of the reports on the month-end close checklist.

To see how a finished monthly report reads, look at our real estate bookkeeping report example, explained line by line. It is built for a flip company, Demo Flips LLC, with one row per deal where a rental report has one column per property.